Chapter 2:

Chapter 2:

“Hey, you ignorant fools who don’t even know the first thing about exercise!”

The moment Mu-jin shouted out loud,

“......”

A chilling silence fell over the training grounds.

“Mu, Mu-jin? What’s wrong?”

In the midst of that silence, the worried voice of the young monk who had woken Mu-jin up in the morning pierced his ears.

However, Mu-jin couldn’t soothe the boy’s concern.

The young monks who were observing the training. The second-generation disciples of Shaolin, who didn’t even resemble monks, stared at Mu-jin with demonic expressions and shouted,

“You insolent fool!! How dare you utter such nonsense during training!”

“Making such excuses just because the training is hard! Are you really a Shaolin disciple?”

“Straighten your posture immediately!!”

Even ordinary people tend to shrink back when being yelled at in a group. Moreover, since the second-generation disciples of Shaolin were young men skilled in martial arts, their shouts naturally carried an aura of intimidation.

In such a situation, a faint-hearted person would have wet their pants.

“Is it a crime to point out what’s wrong?”

But Mu-jin wasn’t the kind of man to be intimidated by such threats. He had endured seven years of rigorous training in a special forces unit, and he had dealt with troublesome clients as a fitness trainer for ten years.

His life had been too tumultuous for him to shrink back from mere shouts from young men.

Because of his confident demeanor, even the second-generation disciples who were shouting at him looked at him with astonishment.

“As a disciple of Shaolin, are you really saying that Shaolin’s training is wrong?”

One of the second-generation disciples stepped forward and asked, and Mu-jin couldn’t help but chuckle.

‘Wow, this dream feels so real.’

Even the young man’s tone and demeanor were exactly what one would expect in a martial arts novel.

‘Should I respond with an archaic tone, fitting for a martial arts novel?’

With this thought in mind, Mu-jin spoke up.

“If you exercise like this, when you get older, you’ll suffer severe pain from damaged knee cartilage.”

“That’s just an excuse for the weak.”

“Isn’t martial arts something that the weak learn to discipline their body and mind? And yet, you say the weak can’t learn it. What a contradiction.”

The second-generation disciple who initially stepped forward to scold Mu-jin was momentarily at a loss for words due to Mu-jin’s criticism. Fortunately, another second-generation disciple stepped forward to assist him.

“Our Shaolin martial arts are different from the martial arts you’re referring to. The reason we practice martial arts is to cultivate ourselves and achieve enlightenment.”

“Then, by that logic, does it mean that those who are physically weak should not seek enlightenment?”

“That’s not it! It means that through ascetic practices, one can cultivate their spirit!”

The second-generation disciple, momentarily flustered, shouted back, but by then, a smile had already formed on Mu-jin’s lips.

“Why must one attain enlightenment through asceticism?”

“The human mind is weak. In difficult situations, people tend to seek convenience and harbor evil thoughts. Through training that involves enduring such situations, one cultivates their spirit.”

“Can one attain enlightenment that way?”

“Yes.”

“Is enlightenment something that can be achieved in just a day or two?”

“What’s this nonsense all of a sudden?”Fôll0w current novÊls o/n n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(c/o/m)

“Isn’t that what the monk is implying? He said that through asceticism, one can cultivate their spirit, so it’s fine if their knees get damaged. This suggests that asceticism is unnecessary when one gets older. Therefore, it means that one can achieve enlightenment before they get old. If that’s the case, how poorly must the monk over there have practiced asceticism to not have attained enlightenment yet?”

Mu-jin pointed at the middle-aged monk overseeing the entire training from the upper seat. The first-generation disciple Hye-jung (惠正). The second-generation disciples all fell silent.

While part of it was due to being struck by Mu-jin’s logic,

‘What nonsense is this crazy guy spewing now!?’

they were also in a state of panic because an aspiring third-generation disciple and novice had dared to point fingers at a first-generation disciple, who was like their grandmaster.

And as Mu-jin silenced the second-generation disciples, he stood there with a satisfied smile on his face.

This was the reasoning and eloquence he had developed over ten years of dealing with clients. Indeed, service jobs weren’t for just anyone.

He only regretted that he was using this brilliant eloquence in something as trivial as a dream.

“Kal!”

At that moment, the first-generation disciple Hye-jung, who had been pointed at by the young novice, roared like a lion and approached Mu-jin with bold steps.

“I’ve heard your point. As the second-generation disciples said, generally, the martial arts practiced in Buddhism are merely tools to attain enlightenment. However, our Shaolin martial arts are different.”

“How are they different?”

“We do not practice martial arts merely for personal cultivation. The reason we practice martial arts is to save the sentient beings. This means, we protect them from evildoers and demons who torment them.”

“To protect the sentient beings, are you saying we must engage in such knee-destroying exercises?”

“Hey, who dares laugh during training?”

Nevertheless, Hye-jeong, being a follower of the Buddha, warned the disciples who were mocking others.

“Sigh.”

However, Mu-jin, who was the subject of the laughter, remained unperturbed, regulating his breathing as he bent his knees.

“Whew.”

Then, straightening his knees again, he stood up and exhaled the breath he had been holding.

What Mu-jin was doing wasn’t the horse stance; it was a squat.

Mu-jin focused his mind as much as possible, repeating the squat slowly to feel and stimulate every single muscle fiber of the primary muscles — the gluteus maximus and quadriceps, and additionally the spinal erectors and semitendinosus.

“Whew.”

After repeating it fifteen times, he paused to catch his breath, slightly rotated his knees, and loosened up.

“???”

At last, Hye-jeong, along with the other disciples, realized something was amiss.

“Tsk.”

Regardless, Mu-jin went on with his second set, acting as if he was just doing his job.

“You scoundrel! What are you doing during sacred training time?”

When Mu-jin, once again, bent and straightened his knees fifteen times while breathing strangely, a second senior disciple, unable to stand it anymore, shouted.

However, Mu-jin, upon hearing the senior disciple’s outburst, simply wore a blunt expression and pointed at Hye-jeong.

“Didn’t you say to prove it? Master Uncle told me to exercise my way for seven days and nights, but are you, monk, higher ranked than Master Uncle Hye-jeong?”

“......”

The second senior disciple, who had shouted, looked at Hye-jeong with a bewildered face after Mu-jin’s logical retort.

Hye-jeong sighed inwardly and allowed Mu-jin to train individually.

“A promise is a promise, just leave him be.”

“Understood, Master Uncle.”

In the end, Mu-jin, who had been granted immunity, then proceeded to train in earnest, feeling at ease.

While the other children were already maintaining their horse stance for over an hour, gritting their teeth to endure their shaking legs and aching knees.

“Inhale.”

“Exhale.”

“Inhale.”

“Exhale.”

The rhythm of Mu-jin’s peculiar breathing was enough to captivate the children’s attention.

“Hey! Stop looking around!”

When the children’s gazes repeatedly turned toward Mu-jin, the second senior disciples shouted.

“Inhale.”

“Exhale.”

Of course, Mu-jin just focused on his exercise, paying no mind to them.

After finishing four sets of fifteen repetitions each, Mu-jin loosened his squat stance, caught his breath, and then extended his left leg back while bending his right knee.

It was the lunge position.

Once again, he slowly focused his mind and adjusted his posture.

Simply bending and straightening the knee without focusing on the muscles wasn’t exercise; it was just knee abuse.

“Hmph.”

Of course, in a situation where others were dying from maintaining the horse stance, Mu-jin’s strange actions naturally stood out.

“I have to pretend I don’t see it.”

Having already promised seven days and nights, Hye-jeong had no choice but to overlook Mu-jin’s antics.

“Let’s see after seven days and nights!”

Whether he knew what Hye-jeong was thinking or not, Mu-jin would quietly mutter something inaudible after each set.

“Tsk. That’s not how you exercise.”

“He’ll ruin his joints like that.”

“Who’s going to take responsibility for a ruined knee at that age~”

Naturally, those small mutterings reached Hye-jeong’s ears like thunder, even though they were just mumbles, as he was already at an advanced level.

“Namo Amitabha.”

At some point, Hye-jeong, who had been reciting silently, started reciting aloud with a gritting sound.